


Scourge

by prompom



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Cor Leonis Adopts Prompto Argentum, Gen, M/M, Not Beta Read, serial killer au, the violence is not really graphic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-12-25 11:10:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18260087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prompom/pseuds/prompom
Summary: Moonless Midnight - I’ll drown inside your dark deluge for my whole life.Pitch black sunshine - You waste up all my daylight, and I’m so tired.





	Scourge

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lahoera](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lahoera/gifts).



> this is a birthday gift for my best friend lahoera!! We conspired about this months ago and I've only just finished!!  
> summary is lyrics from Like a Shadow by Holding Absence  
> this isn't beta read because lahoera is my usual beta reader so if there's any mistakes please point them out and I'll fix them asap!!!!

Detective Cor Leonis sighed as he looked at the girl. Kay Munoz. She had been reported missing by friends a week ago. She had been to a party at a local nightclub and hadn’t returned. Her sobbing parents had identified the body a mere hour ago. 

She was only twenty years old. 

Kay had both her eyes cut open, kept somewhere for about a week while slowly having pieces of her skin peeled off before her throat was slit and she was dumped in an alley. Just like Constance Schwartz last month. Kirk Mitchell the month before. The seven other men and women from the seven months before that.

He sighed again and rubbed his knuckles on his forhead. It was times like this he hated his job. When he couldn’t save people. It was clear they had a serial killer on their hands. 

All of the victims had gone missing after going out partying. It was clear that their killer had taken them when they were drunk and vulnerable. They had deduced from that it was probably someone small or not very physically imposing. That had escaped the media’s notice, however. No matter how many press conferences they were having trying to explain the situation to the public, the media had skewed it completely. Calling the killer _The Scourge_ after some disease that used to daemonify people, saying that the killer must be a daemon to do what he did.

Cor left the room. Kay would be buried tomorrow. They had learned all they could.

He didn’t stop until he was outside. The fresh air felt good on his clammy skin. Cor decided to call his adopted son, Prompto. To warn him. 

Cor had only adopted him when the boy was fourteen. He had had a rough life and Cor wanted to help. He was a sweet kid. Even though they had only been father and son for six years, they got along well. Prompto was in the age range that the killer seemed to favour and Cor wanted to make sure he was taking certain precautions. 

Prompto picked up the phone after four rings.

_“Hey Cor”_

Cor immediately felt relieved. “Hey kid”

_“You okay?”_ he asked. Cor could hear noise in the background. Prompto must be outside somewhere.

“I’m fine. I just wanted to make sure you were being safe”

Prompto gave an exasperated groan. _“I got those new locks like you wanted me to. I don’t go running after dark anymore”_

“Make sure you’re careful alright? The killers going for people who are drunk”

He laughed a little. _“You know I don’t drink”_

“They might even be picking people up at nightclubs for a one night stand or something. Just don't go home with any strange people, okay?”

Prompto let out an undignified squeak. _“I’m not like that!”_

“I don’t care if you are, just make sure you’re being careful” Cor said sternly.

_“Don’t worry, I’m always careful”_

Cor hummed in agreement. “I know you are. I just wanted to confirm it I guess. You still coming over for dinner on Saturday?”

_“Of course. I’ll see you then”_

“Yeah see you”

_“Bye”_

“Goodbye” Cor replied, hanging up. The tension in his chest eased a little. Prompto was safe. Now he just had to catch this killer.

\-------------------------------

Prompto hummed as he walked. As soon as Cor had hung up, he started his music again. The grocery bag in his left hand was swinging merrily. His work bag was banging against his hip with every step, his camera bouncing against his chest. Cor had chastised him many times about carrying his camera so openly but sometimes you just had to take a picture right away and what if he couldn’t get it out in time?

He was still humming as he pulled out the key to his house. It was small and probably not in the best neighbourhood, but he had paid for it all by himself from being a freelance photographer.

“Hey, Prompto!” his neighbour, Mrs. Hartmann called out. She was in her eighties and Prompto helped her out by getting her groceries, taking out her trash and taking care of her lawn in the summer. He also helped keep her great grandchildren entertained when they came to visit. It wasn't easy for such a frail lady to take care of a four and six year old.

He waved at her with the hand still holding the key. “Good evening Mrs. Hartmann”

“There was a guy snooping around your house earlier. I told him to leave or I’d call the police. He ran off”

Prompto’s heart pounded in his throat. “What did he look like?”

Mrs. Hartmann’s face scrunched up in disgust. “I think he was one of those goths he had black hair and was wearing black clothes. Looked awfully suspicious”

“Alright, thanks Mrs. Hartmann. I’ll take extra care to lock my door and windows”

“Good boy. I’ll see you tomorrow”

“See you tomorrow”

As soon as Prompto unlocked the door and locked it behind himself. He scanned the hallway. Nothing seemed out of place. He carefully walked to the kitchen, putting his bags and camera on the countertop. Nothing seemed out of place there either. He was just starting to think that Mrs. Hartmann had scared the guy off in time until he went into the bathroom and saw the window was ajar. That might have been a coincidence but there was a ever so slight smear on the windowsill, and he had scrubbed the room down with his new oxy cleaner yesterday, and that got rid of all marks; visible and otherwise.

He shut the window and locked it. He took a deep breath. There was probably someone in his house. Prompto walked quickly upstairs, into his bedroom, eyes still scanning the house for more signs of a break in. 

What he wasn’t expecting to see was a man lying on his bed with his pillow over his face. His hair was black and he was wearing all black clothes. He must have been the man that Mrs. Hartmann was on about earlier. He mustn't have heard Prompto come in. Carefully and quietly, Prompto grabbed the bat that lay near his bedroom door. Cor had given it to him “in case of an emergency” and this was definitely an emergency.

Once the bat was secure in his grip, he cleared his throat loudly. The man shot upright. His wide, blue eyes took in Prompto for a moment before he blushed deeply. The reaction was so strange, Prompto froze, unsure of what to do. The guy covered his face with Prompto’s pillow again. “Oh Gods this is so embarrassing. I can’t believe you caught me” he said, voice muffled by the pillow.

“Who are you?” Prompto asked, tightening his grip on the bat until his knuckles turned white.

He slowly pulled the pillow from his face. “I’m Noct”

“Okay Noct, why are you in my house?”

This made Noct blush even deeper than before. “I uhh saw you at the museum fundraiser.” Prompto nodded. He had photographed the event for the newspaper, but it was a month ago. “I thought you were really good looking, so I uh found out your number from the business card you gave my uncle and then used it to find your address. You - uh probably don’t remember but we were in school together too”

Prompto didn’t remember him from school at all so he decided to just focus on the finding out his address part. “You do realise that’s stalking, don’t you?”

Noct’s eyes started to look watery. Shit, was he going to cry?

“I’m-I’m sorry. I just didn’t know how to talk to you”

“Probably breaking into my house wasn’t the best way to do it” Prompto said, loosening his grip on the bat and placing it carefully by the door. The only danger this guy posed was to himself. “Does anyone know you’re here?”

Noct shook his head frantically.

Prompto smiled. This was an interesting development. “I’m not annoyed at you, okay?”

Noct’s eyes shone with happiness. “You’re not?”

“No, it's kind of flattering actually. I can’t believe anyone would like me that much to go through all that trouble”

Noct’s smile was so big now it nearly split his face in two. Prompto struggled to not laugh. This guy was truly pathetic. “You’re so amazing looking and so talented”

“Y’know I could actually use your help with something”

“Anything”

“I have an old table in the basement. I’m gonna give it to my neighbour. I was gonna wait to get help to carry it up but now you’re here it would be perfect”

“Uh- no problem!”

Prompto fluttered his eyelashes a little. Noct was so excited he looked like he would pop a boner any second. “You’re so strong looking I’m sure it would be no problem.” The black haired man replied by, probably subconsciously, puffing out his chest. This was too easy. “I’ll show you now, c’mon”

Noct followed him like an eager puppy. Prompto lead him to the basement door in the kitchen. He unlocked it with one of the many keys he had and opened it. Now he had the perfect idea. He looked down, seemingly embarrassed. “Would you mind going first? It sounds silly but I'm scared of the dark”

“Of course” Noct said eagerly. Just as Prompto suspected. Gods how fucking stupid could one person be?

When Noct was about to walk in, Prompto shoved him in the middle of the back, hard. Noct gave a surprised gasp before loosing his balance and falling. His head hit one step with a sickening thump and he limply fell down the rest.

With a tired sigh, Prompto followed him down. When he reached the bottom, he knelt down by Noct and put his fingers to his neck. He could feel a strong pulse. Good, this one was going to be fun.

Prompto wanted to lift him, put him in the chair but Noct's dead weight was too heavy for him. He had to resort to tying his hands and feet together. When that was done, Prompto dragged Noct over to the right side of the basement. After a few days of living there, he had found a door that was mostly hidden. You could only see it if you really looked, and Prompto had piled some old boxes in front of it to make it look more inconspicuous. He opened the door and dragged Noct over to the slightly stained mattress that he had found in a dumpster.

With a grunt, he rolled him on top of it. The left side of Noct's face had the beginnings of a nasty bruise from when he hit his head on the steps.

Prompto stared at him for a few minutes before he got bored. He went into the main basement and got a big, heavy pair of scissors. He went back in and with a smirk, started to cut away Noct's clothes but left his underwear. This was his favourite part; when they were vulnerable in front of him. Noct had a decent body, he had a little tummy fat, probably from eating too much junk food, but the part that intrigued him the most was the scars. The scars all over his forearms. They were clearly self harm scars and the deeper scars on his wrists spelt out a suicide attempt.

Prompto leant forward with a smile and slapped his face a few times. “Hey, wake up”

It took awhile for him to respond but he slowly opened his eyes. They were pretty like this; unfocused and confused. “What happened?”

“Don't worry about that” Prompto responded softly. Noct tried to sit up, but realised his hands and feet were bound. He looked at Prompto, his eyes wide with confusion and fear. “Have you realised what a sticky situation you have got yourself in?”

Noct nodded slowly. “What are you gonna do to me?”

Prompto sat on the floor and crossed his legs. “Do you follow the news?” Noct nodded again. Anger flared in Prompto's chest. “Speak when I ask you a question” he snapped.

“Yes, sorry” Noct said hurriedly.

Prompto relaxed again. “I'm gonna tell you a secret, okay?”

“Okay” Noct replied eagerly. It was pathetic really, he was still desperate for his attention even though Prompto had him tied up and at his mercy.

“Y'know The Scourge?”

“The killer?”

“Yes.” Prompto gave a small, coy smile. “It's me”

Noct stared at him, dumbfounded. “Are you going to kill me?”

“Probably”

“Why?”

Prompto laughed. “It's because I can to be honest. No one would ever suspect me”

“I'll do anything. Please” Noct begged.

“Anything?” he asked with a smirk. Noct nodded frantically in response. Prompto gently stroked his jaw with his fingertips. Noct shuddered and his eyes fluttered closed as he lent into Prompto's hand. “Give me an example”

Noct's eyes snapped open. “You know what I mean”

“But I want you to say it. It's either that or I'll assume that you're okay with me cutting off all your fingers and making you eat them. Got it?” Prompto pulled his hand away from Noct's face and he whimpered at the loss of contact. Truly pathetic. “I haven't got all day Noct”

“I'll su-suck your dick. You can fu-fuck me. Please Prompto, I want it.” Now he truly looked nervous at those words, and that made Prompto's heart flutter with excitement. 

Prompto stood upright, a devilish smile on his face. “Maybe later, when I'm in the mood. I've got stuff to do so I'll be back later”

Tears started to trickle down Noct's face. “Please don't leave me”

“Not all of us have the time to be sitting in the basement and do nothing all day” Prompto said before shutting the door behind him. The padded room instantly muffled the sounds of Noct's sobs. Prompto smiled again. This was definitely going to be fun.

\-------------------------------

_Sorry Cor, can't make it tomorrow night after all. I got a last minute commission and I can charge double for it because of the short notice. Come to my place Wednesday instead and I'll make you food and I'll introduce you to someone special ;)_

Cor had received that text on Friday night. It was strange that Prompto had cancelled, he had never done that before. It was even stranger that he had hinted that he had started dating someone. Prompto's last boyfriend had been, to put it frank, not a nice person, but that was three years ago.

Cor knocked on Prompto's door. The blonde eagerly answered within seconds, bouncing a little as he did. “You know you don't need to knock Cor” he laughed, wrapping his arms around him. Cor hugged him back and passed him the bottle of wine he had brought. “Aww, you didn't need to bring anything!”

“It's the least I could do, you made dinner after all” Cor replied.

“Well, c'mon in. I've got someone I want you to meet”

Prompto's house was small but meticulously tidy and clean. Cor had no idea how Prompto even kept it that clean. Not a thing was out of place and the wooden floors nearly sparkled. The sharp smell of disinfectant stung Cor's nostrils as he shut the door behind them.

Prompto led him into the kitchen, where a man was slowly stirring something on the stove. Prompto rushed over and dragged him over to Cor. The man was skinny and his black hair fell into his eyes. He nervously looked at Cor and tugged on the sleeve of his hoodie. “This is Noct”

Cor held out his hand for him to shake. Noct looked nervously at Prompto, who nodded, before taking his hand. His palm was a little sweaty. “Its very nice to meet you Noct”

“You too” Noct mumbled.

Prompto slapped Noct's arm playfully “You don't need to be so shy”

For dinner, Prompto had made a curry, which Cor wasn't surprised about at all. Prompto loved curry. When Noct lifted the fork to his mouth, his hoodie sleeve fell down a little and Cor caught a glimpse of fading bruises around his wrists. That certainly was a weird way to find out your adopted son was into bondage. “Where did you two meet?” Cor asked, trying to distract himself.

“I was photographing a museum fundraiser and Noct's uncle was one of the guests of honor” Prompto replied, smiling shyly at Noct. 

Noct smiled back, a little stiffly. “Yeah he was so handsome I just had to ask him for his number”

“I'm glad you two found each other, you seem good together” 

As the meal progressed, Cor noticed how nervous Noct was. He kept glancing at Prompto. One time when he looking was Prompto caught him. A flash of an expression Cor had never seen on the blondes face before made Noct put his head down and shovel food into his mouth faster. When he finished his food, Noct started fiddling with the end of his hair, anxiously looking down at his lap. Cor caught sight of a very nasty bruise down the side of of his face.

“That looks painful” he said, gesturing towards it with his fork.

Noct blushed and looked at Prompto, panic evident in his eyes. “Stupid accident really”

“We were getting stuff from the basement and he fell down the stairs, he's so clumsy” Prompto laughed. “We were in the hospital for hours!”

A thought crossed his mind that Prompto had hurt Noct, but he quickly dismissed it. Prompto wouldn’t hurt a fly. He was kind and gentle despite all he had been through. Cor was glad he had found someone to make him happy at last.

\-------------------------------

Ignis Scientia and Gladiolus Amicitia had both been prompted to detective at the same time, two months ago exactly. Their boss, Titus Drautos, didn't like them very much and kept on giving them the ‘boring’ cases.

Today's was a missing man. Ignis struggled to get his brain to focus before the meeting with the man who made the report, but it was getting hard. It was even harder with Gladio muttering angrily next to him for getting another ‘boring’ case.

Ignis arranged his desk and composed himself just as the man walked in. He was tall and had wine red hair. He was wearing way too many layers of clothing for the weather, all with horribly clashing patterns. However, Ignis noticed the clothes were expensive. This man may look homeless, but he clearly was very wealthy. He sat in the chair and smiled at Ignis and Gladio. 

“My name is Ardyn and I would like to report my dear nephew Noctis missing” he said.

“Can I have both of your full names please?” Ignis asked, getting a pen and paper ready.

“My name is Ardyn Izunia and my nephew is Noctis Lucis Caelum”

“How long has he been missing?”

“Around about a week” Ardyn answered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Gladio raised his eyebrows. “He's been missing for a week and you've only just reported it?”

“How old is he?” Ignis said loudly.

“Twenty” Ardyn replied, staring at Gladio with a slight smile on his face. “And I didnt report him missing beforehand because he disappears frequently but always comes back”

“How do you know that he won't just come back?” Gladio asked.

“Because he hasn't been in contact at all. Normally he would text and let someone know that he's alive”

Gladio lent back in his chair and crossed his muscular arms. “So you think he's dead?”

“There was a rather unfortunate incident two years ago in which he tried to kill himself” Ardyn said with a sigh, like he was being inconvenienced in some way.

“Have you got a picture of him we can use?” Ignis asked.

Ardyn pulled a picture out of one of his many pockets. It was a cutting from a newspaper, showing Ardyn with his arm around a smaller man with chin length black hair. Ardyn was smiling but the other man looked sullen. The caption under the picture read Ardyn Izunia with his nephew at the Lucian Historical Society fundraiser : photograph by Prompto Argentum.

“When was this taken?” Gladio asked, carefully scrutinizing the picture.

“Last month”

“Thank you, Mr. Izunia, well get back in touch with you when we get any information”

“I appreciate it”

After Ardyn left, Ignis took the newspaper clipping to look at it closer. The name Prompto Argentum rang a bell. He tapped his pen against his lip a few times before he got it. “Isn't Prompto Argentum Cor Leonis's adopted son?” he asked Gladio.

“Fuck knows” Gladio replied, looking fed up.

“I'll go and ask.” Ignis walked over to the other side of the office, over to where Cor Leonis was sitting. He was a detective of some renown and was currently working on the case of the serial killer The Scourge. Ignis couldn't help but feel a little envious he would have loved to have worked on such a high profile case. “Detective Leonis?”

Cor's head snapped up from the crime scene photos he was studying with a frown. “Yes Ignis?”

Ignis passed him the clipping. “Is this your sons name?”

Cor took the paper and carefully studied it. His frown deepened. “Prompto is my son, but he photographs so many of these sort of events I doubt he'll be able to help you”

“We might go and question him anyway” Ignis said, holding out his hand to take the clipping back.

Cor held it, still staring at it. “Why?”

“The young man in the picture, Noctis, has been missing for over a week and his uncle is worried for his welfare. Apparently he's had some mental health issues in the past”

He handed the newspaper clipping back. “I hope you're able to find the boy” he said before putting his head back down and studying the photos again.

Ignis couldn't help but think that Cor was hiding something from him.

\-------------------------------

Prompto was in an exceptionally good mood and it made Noct anxious. Mainly because last time he thought Prompto was in a good mood, he snapped for no discernable reason and broke one of Noct's fingers with a rolling pin. 

His good mood obviously had something to do with the fact he had gone out somewhere earlier and when he returned, he locked Noct in the downstairs toilet and was moving stuff around in the basement. He let Noct out after about twenty minutes and that's when the good mood had started.

Prompto let Noct upstairs to shower for the first time since Cor had come to visit. Prompto obviously didn't leave him alone and watched Noct shower with a look of mild interest in his face.

Noct flushed and averted his eyes. Even though Prompto had done some pretty messed up stuff, to him and other people, he couldn't help but feel attracted to the blonde. His body was surprisingly muscular and the delicate constellations of freckles across his creamy skin done _something_ to Noct. He was still dying to touch him but Prompto didn't seem to think about his offer. The only time Prompto had even touched him in a non violent way was when Cor was around.

When Noct was done, he carefully climbed out of the shower and Prompto handed him a towel. “Don't bother getting dressed after”

Noct's heart hammered in his throat. He dried off slowly, face burning from being watched. When he was done, Prompto stood and beckoned his finger. Noct eagerly followed Prompto into his bedroom.

Prompto pushed him onto the bed with surprising gentleness and lay down next to him. He rolled over and pressed his lips against Noct's. Gods, his lips were even softer than Noct could ever imagine. And the freckles this close were absolutely breathtaking. Noct hummed happily and closed his eyes. Prompto’s tongue slipped into his mouth as his fingertips ghosted up his bare torso until his hand settled around Noct’s throat. The slight pressure made Noct’s heart pound in his ears and his dick get hard embarrassingly fast.

Noct whined a little when Prompto pulled away. He smirked at Noct’s flushed face, and it turned into a soft smile when his eyes travelled down. “You really do like me, huh?”

“I said I did”

“I guess I find it hard to believe, that’s all.” Prompto let go of his throat and sat up, looking away from Noct. “So you didn’t just say that stuff just so I wouldn’t hurt you?”

Noct sat up next to him. “I wouldn’t lie to you”

Prompto cupped Noct’s face gently and lent in to kiss him again. “I’ve got something to show you, get some clothes on.” He hopped off the bed and waited for Noct to get some clothes on.

Noct pulled on the clothes he was wearing before the shower and had to tuck his boner into the waistband of his jeans, which was more than a little uncomfortable. Once dressed, Prompto led him into the basement. Noct could feel his throat closing up with panic. He hadn’t been down there since Prompto had shut him in there for forty eight hours. He could feel the darkness and crushing weight of the house above him. 

Prompto pushed the boxes that concealed the door to the side and unlatched it. When he opened the door, Noct saw a young woman lying on the floor. She had brown hair cut into a bob and she had been stripped down to her underwear. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked up at Prompto and Noct. “This is Iris, I met her earlier. We’re gonna have some fun with her Noct”

\-------------------------------

As soon as Cor’s shift was over, he was rushing out the building. He would have loved to have left earlier but it would have been suspicious. The man who Prompto said was his boyfriend was declared missing. There had to be something more to this story.

He only just didn’t break the speed limit as he rushed to Prompto’s house. He knocked the door. There was no answer, so he knocked again. He knew Prompto should be home. The door eventually opened. Prompto seemed confused to see him. “Hey Cor, what are you doing here?”

“This is a delicate matter Prom, can I come in”

Prompto smiled, wide. “Yeah, sure”

When the door was shut behind them, Cor immediately spoke; “Noct’s uncle was in the ;police station today, saying Noct’s been missing for over a week”

“Noct’s uncle?” Prompto looked worried.

“What’s going on?”

Prompto sighed. “Noct told me about his uncle. He abuses Noct, he only took him in when he was a kid so he could get some of his inheritance. It’s why I let Noct move in so quickly, he wanted to escape his uncle”

“Would it be possible that I ask Noct about this?” Cor asked gently.

Prompto turned, so Cor couldn’t see his face. “Do you not believe me?”

“I just want to hear Noct say it so I can pass the information along to the detectives on the case”

Prompto turned around again, his cheeks were a little pink. “We were - uh - kinda in the middle of something when you knocked on the door. He needs a minute to get decent”

“Yeah, of course”

“Go and sit in the front room to wait, if you’d like”

Cor sat gingerly on the sofa as he heard Prompto’s footsteps above him. He heard a quiet murmur of voices, than the shower start up. A few moments later, Prompto came back downstairs. “He needs to have a quick shower” he explained with a nervous giggle. “Do you want something to drink while you wait?”

“Yeah, that’ll be great”

Prompto returned a few seconds later with a glass of orange juice. “Your favourite”

Cor smiled. There was no way this sweet kid was up to anything bad. “Thank you”

He took a sip of the drink and smiled a little. Prompto had even bought his favourite brand.When the glass was half empty, he started to feel a little strange. It was like he wasn't quite in his body. He tried to move, but his arms didn’t seem to want to work correctly. He tried to stand and promptly fell to the floor when a wave of dizziness hit him. The last thing he saw when he closed his eyes was Prompto’s smiling face. He might have been wrong after all.

\-------------------------------

The last thing Prompto wanted to do was drug Cor but he didn't really have a choice. He seemed suspicious, and he couldn't have him poking around. Cor was very protective of him, so he wouldn't have told anyone else about his suspicions. All Prompto had to do was go into the police station in a few days and say Cor was missing and then kill him and dump the body. It shouldn't be too hard and the suspicion should be lifted off him for reporting it in the first place.

Cor was heavy though, and Prompto couldn't move him off the living room floor by himself. He would also have to clean up the spilled orange juice. 

“Noct” he called out. Noct quickly came up from the basement. His hands were still covered in blood, his skin was pale and clammy. “Wash your hands and then help me move him”

“What happened?” Noct asked nervously eyeing Cor lying on the floor.

“Your uncle has reported you missing”

“Oh”

“Cor recognised you from the picture”

“Sorry” Noct whispered.

Prompto smiled at him gently. “It's not your fault Noct. We'll get rid of Iris tomorrow and then Cor in a few days and everything will be back to normal”

It was hard to move Cor into the basement, even with the two of them. He was six foot three and muscular and neither Noct or Prompto were very tall or muscular.

When he was finally downstairs, Prompto sat Cor up and tied his arms to a support beam in the middle of the room. He tested to ropes a few times, he was definitely secure. 

With a satisfied smile, Prompto crossed the room and checked in on Iris. She was whimpering pathetically on the floor. Prompto normally liked to cut peoples eyes first, but he particularly enjoyed the fear in Iris's eyes. He had given Noct instructions to cut the back of her knees so she couldn't walk. He went and checked the incisions, ignoring the way she tried to squirm away from his touch. They were definitely deep enough. There was no way she'd be able to get up the stairs like this.

Prompto couldn't help but feel a little excited, he had never had two captives before. One for him, and one for Noct.

\-------------------------------

Gladio was poking around at Cor's desk when he got the text from Iris. Cor had been acting oddly earlier and Gladio was determined to get to the bottom of it. He opened the text from his sister. It was a selfie of her and a blonde boy. _Just met the cutest guy!_

Gladio frowned. He seemed familiar. Like he had just seen him…

“What are you doing?” Ignis hissed.

“Something's going on” Gladio replied with a frown. He showed the picture to Ignis. “Does this guy seem familiar to you?”

Ignis sighed and picked up a photo on Cor's desk and handed it to Gladio. The photo showed Cor standing with his arm around the same blonde boy. He must have been his adopted son. The fact he had come up again was making Gladio feel uneasy. He texted Iris to see where she was. Five minutes later he still didn't have a reply. That was very strange. She usually texted back quickly. He tapped his fingers a few times on Cor's desk. “I think we should go and question him”

“Cor said he wouldn't know anything” Ignis said, frowning.

“Look, I don't want to say this but of course he would say that”

Ignis's frown deepened. “Do you really think he would lie about a case?”

“For that kid? Yeah”

“Fine, let's go” 

It was easy enough to find Prompto's address, it was listed on his website. 

By the time they got there, it was fully dark. The headlights of the patrol car hit a blonde figure struggling to put something large in the trunk of a car. He must have spotted the patrol car because he quickly slammed the trunk closed.

Gladio jumped out before Ignis had fully stopped the car, making Ignis curse under his breath at his recklessness. Gladio immediately recognised the blonde man as Prompto. He smiled and put his hands behind his back. “Hello officers”

“What were you putting in your car?” Ignis asked, jumping out of the car the second it was parked.

“Just some old tarpaulin. I've just finished painting and I'm gonna take it to the dump tomorrow” he replied coolly.

“Can we see?”

Prompto narrowed his eyes. “Sure”

He opened the trunk of the car again and Ignis peered inside, trying not to touch anything just in case. There was indeed a tarpaulin in there, but it was rolled up. “Would you mind opening that?”

Prompto sighed but unrolled the tarpaulin. It was empty. “Done now?”

“I apologise about that” Ignis said, nerves twisting in his gut. There was definitely something going on. That tarpaulin was very clean considering the fact that Prompto had apparently just finished painting. “Can we ask you a few questions about an assignment you were on a few weeks ago?”

“I suppose but I don't think I could help much. I've been really busy lately and I can't remember a lot of them”

“May we go into your house to discuss it?”

“I'd rather not” Prompto replied with a pleasant smile.

“Why? You hiding something?” Gladio asked.

“No, I just would rather not have two strangers in my home”

Gladio and Ignis shared a quick look. He was acting very suspiciously. Gladio edged around to the side of them to have a look in the house while Ignis questioned Prompto. 

Igbis took a photocopy of the clipping that Ardyn had given them and passed it over to Prompto. “Do you recognise the younger man in this picture?”

Prompto stared at it for a moment. “Kind of? He seems familiar”

“He's been missing for over a week”

Gladio could just about hear them talking as he peered through the front room window. The room was eerily clean and tidy, it was like a show home rather than a house. A flicker of movement to the left made him startle. He could just about make out a hand, female if he had to guess. And covered in blood.

“Hey, what are you doing?” he hears Prompto shout. He never thought he'd see someone so small and blonde look so furious as he stormed over. “You can't just be looking through my windows!”

Gladio quickly pulled out his gun and pointed it at Prompto. “Who's lying in your living room floor?”

Prompto was silent for a moment. His tongue darted out before he spoke. “I don't know what you're talking about”

Igbis peered through the window too. “You better let us in right now”

“You can't just go inside my house without a warrant” Prompto argued.

“We can if we see any suspicious activity and seeing someone lying in your floor definitely counts as suspicious activity” Gladio retorted.

Prompto stomped over to the door. “No, I'm not letting you in” he said, standing in front of the door in a futile attempt to block it.

“Gladio, detain him” Ignis instructed.

Gladio pulled out handcuffs, wrestled Prompto to the floor and cuffed him. 

“You can't arrest me”

“Guess what? We have” Gladio snarled just before he started to read Prompto his rights.

Whilst he was doing that, Ignis opened the door. Prompto hadn't locked it so it opened without resistance. Ignis was immediately greeted by the sight of a woman lying on the floor, a puddle of blood slowly forming around her. He noticed that she had wounds in the back of her knees and even though those were slowly oozing blood, it wasn't the source of the most of the bleeding. He knelt beside her and gently pressed his fingers to her knock to try and find a pulse. That was when he recognised her. It was Gladio's sister Iris.

He slowly turned her over to try and find the source of her injuries. His stomach lurched as he saw the ruin of her left eye.

She opened her remaining eye and flinched violently and tried to jerk away, sobbing as she did. “Please don't hurt me”

“Iris, it's me, Ignis” he said gently.

“Ignis?” she questioned, “Really?”

“Yes”

“Thank the Gods” she whispered, clutching onto his shirt. “Is Gladdy with you?”

“Hes outside” Ignis replied, stroking her hair off her face.

“You have to go down the basement. There's two other people down there”

“I don't want to leave you”

“Please Ignis, one of them saved my life”

Ignis pulled off his jacket and wrapped Iris up in it. The blood coming from her eye had slowed down to nearly a trickle. 

“Gladio” he called out.

“Yeah?”

“Put him in the car and come in here”

A few minutes later, Gladio came in. His eyes fell to Iris and he stiffened with rage. “I'm going to strangle him”

“No you're not. You're going to look after your sister and phone for medical assistance. Iris said there's another two people here”

“I'm going to kill him” Gladio growled, trembling slightly with anger.

“Gladio, control yourself. Your sister needs you and we can't bring him to justice if you kill him”

Gladio took a few deep breaths and nodded. He sat down next to Iris and called in for an ambulance. 

Iris explained to Ignis where the basement was. He crept slowly down the stairs. Tied up was Cor Leonis. There was another man lying face down on the floor.

Ignis's first priority was hunting Cor. He rubbed his arms to get the circulation back into them. “I -” he started.

“No need to explain. You just wanted to protect your family”

Cor nodded slowly. “I think Noct's dead”

“What happened?”

“As soon as Gladiolus showed me the picture, I recognised the man. I had come over for dinner and Prompto introduced him as his boyfriend. I came over to ask him about it, hoping there was some sort of explanation. When I started asking too many questions, he must have drugged me or something because I woke up down here”

“What happened to Noctis?” Ignis asked gently.

Cor swallowed and averted his eyes. “I didn't know Prompto was like this. I've been a terrible detective and an even worse father”

“He probably hid it very well it's not your fault”

“He wanted me to watch him killing the girl so he waited until I woke up” Cor explained quietly. “He cut her eye and then told Noct to do the other one. He refused. I don't really know what happened next but he stabbed Noct in the throat. He was really angry. I've never seen him like that.” Cor choked back tears. “I knew I should have made him see a psychiatrist after everything that happened to him but he kept insisting he was fine and I believed him”

“Cor, you did everything you could” Ignis said softly holding the older man in his arms gently.

**Author's Note:**

> I know Prompto was really out of character in this but we loved the idea!!!!!


End file.
